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The article discusses the nuclear reactor accidents which prohibits the people from accepting the rebirth of nuclear energy. It states that the Chernobyl incident in Ukraine in 1986 represented the serious effects of radioactivity from nuclear reactors despite the unveiled causes of the failure. It also mentions the disclosure of Shoreham nuclear power plant by Governor Mario Mario Cuomo of New York in 1989 due to the fear of nuclear accident. In addition, the Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania was also disclosed despite the evidence of no public health threat. The article emphasizes the role of engineers in the improvement of nuclear reactors.

The article reports that engineers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, have claimed that they have found a substitute that can potentially add a whole new range of capabilities to MEMS, microelectromechanical-based displays. It has been claimed by Shahyaan Desai and his colleagues of Cornell University that simple carbon fiber is superior to silicon for many MEMS applications.

The article reports that engineers at the State University of New York at Buffalo, New York have constructed a full-scale wood-frame townhouse wired with some 250 sensors and a dozen video cameras. The purpose is to see what happens when this building gets hit with a cataclysmic earthquake. The hope is that the sensors will uncover just how the building reacts to such quakes in real time. By locating areas where current building practices are deficient, the researchers hope to provide engineers and architects with new ideas on how to build sturdier wood-frame houses.

The article reports that a local radio affiliate in New York City has began a series, termed as the Sandwich Generation — those of them sandwiched between aging parents and their children, who both need care. As the population of the world lives longer, the so-called Sandwich Generation, typically in their 40s and 50s, is challenged to devote enough time to parents and children and still find some time for themselves. Engineers, too, have inherited the sandwich problem, as many products must be designed to serve the needs of both the young and the old.